There's Someone Else
by TheTrueJuliet
Summary: Oneshot. Just a cute idea that hit me one day. Takes place in an earlier time period when Sarabi used to date a much more caring- and much more humbled Scar.


Thunder clashed above their heads. Lightening fled across the gray, ominous sky. The savannah was getting drenched, and any animal still out in the open was running in search of a refuge. Two lions darted for a stone ledge and slid underneath it together, laughing all the while. Rain drizzled noisily off the edges of their sheltered haven. It was a snug space, but it was warm and dry for the two.

The dark-maned lion sighed and turned to face the lioness next to him. They were both soaking wet, but he couldn't care any less. The lioness was grinning, staring right back at the lion. His green eyes weren't leaving her rose-red ones.

She was pleasantly puzzled by this. The lioness, named Sarabi, uncomfortably glanced to the side and broke their eye contact.

"What…?" she bashfully asked him. The lion, Taka, shook his head. His mane was sopping wet with heavy water.

"…I can't believe how fortunate I am," he replied warmly. A thin and ginger smile began creeping up Sarabi's face, making Taka smile in return. He lovingly brought his chin around the back of her neck to nuzzle into her.

"I love you dearly," he murmured.

Sarabi smiled, but it weakly began to disappear over his shoulder. Taka was beaming with his eyes closed shut. He had been waiting so long for this moment- to spend the rest of his life with her. He took a deep inhale.

_This is it_. He thought. _Ask her_.

Sarabi blinked sadly, contemplating something as he nestled into her. This wasn't starting off too good. How on earth was he going to take it if she told him what was on her mind? She knew Taka too well. This was going to break his heart.

_This is it_. She thought. _Tell him._

"Love, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about," Taka said. He was about to plant a kiss on her cheek, but Sarabi politely pulled away. Taka parted from her, a little concerned and confused.

Sarabi cleared her little throat and forced a tiny smile. Taka stared at her.

"…Is something wrong?" Taka asked.

"…No…" she started gently. "But… there is something I've been wanting to talk to you about, too, sweetheart."

Taka grinned. "Alright." He straightened himself up to look at her and wait patiently. "You go first."

Sarabi pressed a sympathetic, unhappy smile. Rain continued to patter on the ground outside.

"Taka…" she started off carefully. "…We've been together for a long time, now…"

"-Yes," Taka quickly smiled in agreement. He had a rising hope of where this was going. "Yes, we have…"

"…And…" Sarabi glanced away, desperately trying to find words that were kind enough to say to him. "…You've been so sweet to me all these years… even in childhood."

She returned eye contact. Taka was staring… nodding gently.

Sarabi looked away again.

"…But, recently… I think it's time that we-"

She sighed, frustrated. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. But she had to say it.

Taka blinked with worry. He then laid his paw on her arm and gave her a nice smile.

"It's alright…" He rubbed his paw up and down her arm. "…You can tell me."

Sarabi closed her eyes. She breathed in to compose herself.

"I think it's time we come to terms that we are just becoming…" She opened her eyes and spoke with each word ripping out of her mouth. "…Two… very… different… individuals."

The smile on Taka's face began to break apart in gradual steps. He remained motionless. Sarabi gazed up at him with dread.

Taka's eyes suddenly looked hollow and empty. He was staring at her uneasily… and began to lower his paw from her arm. The rain outside still gently drizzled to the ground.

"Love…" Taka trailed off. He began to mouth his next words, but he hesitated- afraid to ask. He was confused.

"Wh…what are you trying to say…?"

Sarabi swallowed and continued to stare at him. She slowly shook her head.

"…I don't want to be with you anymore."

Taka sank back in shock- and spoke above a horrified whisper.

"What…?"

"-I know you probably never saw this coming…" Sarabi instantly added on. "And…"

Taka aimlessly stared off- his heart falling apart. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't comprehend just what he could have possibly done to have her make this decision.

"…And I know this might be bit of a shock," Sarabi went on. "But…"

Worried and crushed, Taka interjected.

"I… I don't understand…!" His green eyes frantically glanced around for answers. "What did I _do?_"

"-Nothing!" Sarabi gasped out.

"-Was it something I said?"

"-No! No, it was nothing you-"

"-Did I hurt you…?" Taka went on. "I won't get mad if you tell me, I promise… do you want to talk about it? You feel neglected? Oh, why don't you like me anymore, Sarabi…?"

Sarabi's throat grew tight, and she made a small, hurt animal noise. She fought back and immediately bit her lip, then hid her face away from him.

"…No, no, no…" she said. Then glanced up to continue talking to him. "…It's just that recently… I've been noticing a contrast with… us. I mean, the association you're choosing to be around isn't exactly a good influence…"

"-The _hyenas?_" Taka said, appalled. "Oh, dear, they're just hyenas. They won't leave me alone. To tell you the truth, I don't even like them all that much…"

"Their habits are rubbing off on you…" Sarabi said. "You're getting to be more… detached. And irritable…"

"-Is that it?" Taka asked suddenly. He shot his eyes on the ground, ashamed of himself. "…I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing it. I'll change, I can do better, love."

Taka then breathed in sharply, staring off in some kind of realization.

"…It's Shenzi, isn't it?"

Sarabi perked up her ears, now irritated and confused.

"-Wait- what are you talking about?"

"-Sarabi, darling, she's just a friend…!" Taka declared. He shook his head and his sopping mane flung off water. "I wouldn't dare do such a thing to you!"

Sarabi shut her eyes in anger.

"-Taka!"

Thunder rumbled distantly- and Taka stopped talking. He slunk his eyes around a few times… waiting… just hanging his head.

Sarabi breathed in and calmed down again.

"…Taka, it's not just the hyenas, alright?" she said. "…I've…"

This was the hard part. She had to force the words out of her mouth.

Sarabi kept her gaze on Taka. He was still drenched with rainwater. His green eyes were helplessly searching hers, looking for an answer. Taka looked so vulnerable and distressed right now... _why _did he have to be so good to her? This would've been so much easier if he was a jerk.

Sarabi completed her sentence.

"…I've fallen in love with someone else."

The whites of Taka's eyes became ever noticeable… and dread-inspired. A silent streak of lightening fled across the clouds behind him.

He was inching back. No.

She couldn't have. She wouldn't have.

Taka's back met the stone wall behind him. He didn't know what to say. What to think. He blinked, dumbfounded.

"What…?" Taka inquired quietly.

Sarabi shook her head feverishly.

"There's someone else," she said.

Taka blinked again… and stared off. He gazed away to think and ponder. It couldn't be true. He had done everything right, hadn't he? No. There must've been some mistake he made. Some swift act or careless move. He had planned every facet on how he wanted to ask for this lioness. Nobody could have possibly been a better suitor than him…

Taka pointed his nose towards the ground like a downtrodden dog. He buried his face into one of his paws. He sighed.

Sarabi's face fell and she observed tentatively. Silence.

The rain continued to drizzle madly outside. And then, out of the blue, Sarabi heard him strangle a sob.

She blinked unhappily and couldn't help sympathizing.

"Oh, Taka… please don't."

"…No, I…" Taka uttered, then sniffled inside his paw. "…I don't understand. You're my girlfriend. I love you, I-"

He paused. It was useless. But Taka held in a dear, anxious breath, throwing the one thing on his mind out there.

"…Sarabi, will you be my mate?"

Once spoken, the lioness fluttered her eyelids at his words. Is that what he wanted to talk to her about? This was horribly awkward.

Sarabi didn't know what to do… other than sigh a long sigh. Sarabi calmly shook her head at his offer.

"I'm afraid the flames I once had for you have… dimmed… since I've... known him."

Taka wasn't moving. A raw and hard wave of grief had swept over him. His face was still just planted in his paw.

She had rejected him… just like that.

Sarabi pulled in her lips, watching Taka sit there. This was too sad. She desperately wanted to do something to comfort him.

Taka then swallowed.

"…_Him_," he repeated, a hint annoyed.

Sarabi eased back, a little apprehensive. A trickle of white lightening fled across the sky. Two serious green eyes then rose up from behind Taka's paw.

"…What _is _his name…?" he asked. Sternly, _keenly _interested.

Sarabi looked at him. Panic in her eyes.

His name. If Taka knew his name, he would tear him to pieces. She just knew it. Sarabi hence tried to evade the question.

"…His name doesn't matter…" she began softly.

"-I want to know _who_ he is, _where _he lives…"

"…Taka, stop it."

Taka lowered his paw and looked very seriously at her. "Please be frank with me…"

Sarabi stared back with caution, waiting for him to continue. She didn't really see Taka as she looked at him. She saw somebody else.

"…Is it somebody I know?" Taka questioned her.

Sarabi gazed at him and tensed up… without saying a word. She was afraid of _what _to say. Taka just squarely looked right back at her.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The fur underneath them was still matted and wet.

This said everything. He smirked slyly, figuring it out.

"…So I _know _him," he concluded knowingly. Sarabi inhaled to say something, but Taka cut her off- something he never did before.

"-When did this happen?" he demanded. "Are you seeing him behind my _back?_"

"-Stop, you're making me nervous, Taka…" Sarabi pressed calmly. Taka then realized the tone of his voice and yielded. He immediately looked downward, ashamed.

"I'm sorry…" he murmured.

"You're forgiven…" Sarabi simply replied. She nonchalantly watched the rain patter outside. Thunder trundled up in the clouds.

"I just… get really scared sometimes…" Taka explained.

"…This is exactly what I'm talking about," Sarabi told him. "You have these bizarre mood swings all the time. One second you're fine, the next… well… I don't know who you are… anymore. We're so different now, and I honestly think you might even need some help."

All Taka did was glance up at her worriedly. Sarabi gently leaned in and laid her paw on his. Taka slowly looked down at it like it was a cold, foreign object.

"…I'll always like you, Taka," she kindly said. "But that's it. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Taka eyed her desperately.

"…_But…_"

He couldn't say anything else. Sarabi kissed him on the cheek, and began to rise up on all fours. She turned around. Taka panicked and asked where she going, but she said nothing and retreated back out into the rain.

Taka watched helplessly. He shook his head in horror and stood up- pleading that she come back… even begging that he take her home. But she didn't look back. Not once. She faded into the hazy gray drizzle outside.

That was it. Taka fell back and hit the stone wall behind him in a stupor. He had lost her. Lost her forever to someone else. Why didn't he try harder? Work harder? Spend more time on her? Look for the blasted _signs? _An idiot could have seen that she was miserable with him. All the things his father said about him… all of them were true: he could never do a _thing _right.

Taka clenched his teeth and clamped his eyes shut. Hot tears began pressing against his lids, down his face. He choked on his own sobs. This was all his fault. He had failed. Fallen short. He would have done anything her little heart could dream up of as long as he was still able to call her his own. She loved someone else? What did that mean? Apparently, it meant that he wasn't good enough for her.

The splitting ache in Taka's chest grew. He couldn't take it. Physically, he quickly needed another emotion to brood over. Something, _anything _other than this kind of grief.

He forcefully pushed it aside… and kept it at bay. But the pain was gradually morphing.

…Into bitter, swimming anger.

The clouds growled with thunder again. Taka gnashed down harder on his teeth. He took in a shaky breath.

Who _was _this brute, anyway? Who did he think he was? He had some nerve to steal the lioness of his dreams away from him.

Taka's eyes came open.

Oh, he'd find this bloke alright. And when he got his royal paws on him…

Taka then got away from the stone wall, and began to lumber outside into the lashing rain. Water came smacking down on him, but he didn't care. That was the least of his worries. Taka then headed home to Pride Rock in fumes to vent on somebody. Anybody.

He could trust Mufasa. He would understand if Taka told him. He always did.

…_Just wait until my _brother _hears about this, _Taka thought angrily.


End file.
